A Kung Fu Wolf Holiday
by OkamiSamurai
Summary: Hiro is the host of the Jade Palace's Winter Feast, can he pull it off? Read and find out. My first story of the year!


**A Kung Fu Wolf Holiday**

I never celebrated the Winter Festival.

It's not that I didn't want to… I just had no one to celebrate it with.

By the way, if you haven't met me before, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hiro, a black and white furred mountain wolf and Kung Fu master. Nice to meet you.

Now where was I…?

Oh, right.

You see, I've been an orphan all my life. I was never adopted, and I ran away from the orphanage at the ripe old age of seven when I became the target of prejudice by the new guy in charge of the place. After that I wandered around China, apprenticing myself under many skilled craftsmen. I learned things from carpentry to the culinary arts, and all in record time too. In fact my old masters often said I was the best apprentice they ever had.

But I never stuck around long enough for the winter festival. Winters in China can be hard on people, so the first thing they gotta do is look after themselves and their families, and then they can look to everyone else. Unfortunately during winter, none of the craftsmen take on apprentices, business is never really good for carpenters or stoneworkers during this season.

When I traveled from town to town in winter I'd always rent a room at an inn for a single night, more depending on the weather. Looking for work in winter is a real challenge, like I said before businesses don't run as well in the winter. Carpenters and stoneworkers can't build in the snow… well, they can, but all the snow makes it very difficult. Lose your hammer in the snow; it's gone till spring. Blacksmiths also have a hard time in winter. The weather doesn't bother them so much as the lack of materials they have. Ore and kindling aren't easy to come across during the winter.

The only businesses that do well are the restaurants. But then again, they usually do well all year 'round. Trying to get them to give me a job takes a lot of patience, especially the higher class restaurants, you know the ones that pay unbelievably well, they always need a little extra help during this time of year. And I could always use the extra cash so… it works out for everyone.

That's how it's always been for me… every year… for the past twenty five years of my life.

Not this time.

This time I have a place to call my home, and now I have friends to spend the holidays with.

But this year… wasn't exactly how I expected it was gonna be.

During the holidays, on my travels, I would always see families smiling and having fun and I'd always wonder what it would be like to have something like that. That one place to always come back to, and people who would be there waiting for me. It's something I always wanted.

And now I've found it.

I've finally found a place, and people to spend the holidays with.

But like I said, it wasn't exactly as I expected.

See, here's what happened…

Once winter came around, things changed slightly at the Jade Palace. We still had our Training schedule, only it didn't last as long as it would in the warmer seasons, after that we would all go off and do what we wanted. These days 'do what we want' can be loosely translated as 'try to stay warm' at least that's what I assume from observing Viper, Monkey, Mantis and Crane. Tigress seems fine, the cold doesn't seem to be bothering her, but then again what season does?

Down in the village, where I am currently at right now, Mr. Ping needs help in his shop during this time of year. At least once a day, everyone in the village comes to his shop for a nice hot bowl of noodle soup, and in this cold weather who could blame them? So I worked out a deal with my Kung Fu master, Shifu. I spend the mornings helping out Mr. Ping, and earning a few coins in the process, and spend the afternoon until dinner in the training hall. It took some convincing but when I added an extra two hours to the training regimen Master Shifu agreed.

So here I am in Mr. Ping's kitchen, chopping up vegetables, cooking the broth and serving the customers. We had a full house today, complete with a little line leading outside. Everyone was all bundled up to keep themselves warm and yet it seemed the cold became an afterthought to them as they sat down with friends and family and enjoyed their meals. The scene brought a smile to my face, seeing everyone have such fun, laughing, smiling…

It was great.

I poured more soup into bowls as Mr. Ping told me about past winter festivals, how every year there would be a big party here at the shop. About the music and dancing, the sun lamps, and how every year, the one everyone knew as Uncle Yang would laugh so hard that noodles would fly out of his nose. And I began thinking to myself, this is my kind of party.

After a few hours the shop began to empty out, and I was wiping down the tables with a wet cloth, making sure to dry it off so there wouldn't be a sheet of ice on the table. I did the same with all the tables when I heard Mr. Ping call for me.

"Oh, HIro!"

I looked up from the table I had just finished cleaning and made my way inside the kitchen and found the cheerful old goose washing the dishes that were used during the breakfast rush, making sure they were nice and clean and ready for lunch. "What can I do for you, ? I asked.

He looked up from the bowl he was cleaning, but didn't stop washing it. "Could you do me a quick favor, and get the crate from the attic?"

I nodded my head and made my way two flights of stairs, up to the attic. when I got there to get the crate I lifted my eyebrow. "Mr. Ping!" I called down. "Which crate is it?" There were like twenty crates up here, and all of them looked exactly the same!

He hollered up. "It's the one that says 'Winter' on the side!"

So I looked around until Found the crate in question, unfortunately it was all the way in the back and took some effort to get it. Anyway, I brought it down and set it on the counter. "You know you ought to think about reorganizing the attic from time to time." I said as I put the now clean dishes away

"Why would I want to do that? Everything is already where it's supposed to be." He answered as he opened the crate to reveal a bunch of winter holiday decorations. Sunlamps, streamers, you name it. I smiled at the thought of the party that would be happening tomorrow night, and was just about to ask Mr. Ping if he needed any help when…

"Good afternoon Dragon Warrior."

I turned around to face my diminutive teacher; Master Shifu.

"Ah, good afternoon Master Shifu. Just got a few more things to do, and I'll be up to the Jade Palace." I said while putting the cooking utensils back where they belong.

"Actually I was wondering if I could have a word with you. Mr. Ping, may I borrow Hiro for a moment?" Is it just me, or does Master Shifu seem a bit… loose today? Probably my imagination.

"Of course Master Shifu, we're just about done here anyway." He said pulling out the decorations from the box.

I put the last of the dishes away and then made my way to Shifu. "I wanted to talk to you about the Winter Feast up at the Jade Palace." Well shoot! With all the excitement for the festival down here in the valley, I guess I forgot about the feast up at the palace.

See, here's what's happening. Every year at the Winter Festival, all the Kung Fu masters from all the schools in China gather together at the Jade Palace for one classy dinner. At least that's what I've heard, anyway. I've never actually seen it before, just heard a rumor or two from traveling all over the place.

"Well, this should be fun, right?" I asked. "I'm willing to bet you got an epic series of sunlamps." Complete with an artist's rendering of each master's greatest accomplishment. "Any dance steps I should learn?" I always liked doing a little dance every now and again. Now that it comes to mind, a few years back I was at this small village at the western end of China, and believe me when I say that they like to party. And the best part was, that anyone could join the celebration! The only rule was you gotta be able to handle the hard drinks…

A large grin spread across my face as I remembered my first hangover. Ah, good times…

"Hiro, stop. This is the Masters Winter Feast. It is utter perfection, all the masters at one table. Always elegant, and always formal." Shifu explained. Wow, sounds stuffy and boring if you ask me, but…

"Well, I'll try to enjoy myself while I'm there anyway, okay?" I always try to be open minded about things, so I'd be willing to try being fancy at least once.

"I'm sorry Hiro, you will not be invited." Shifu stated. Oh. Well that's a letdown. I was actually looking forward to- "You will be hosting."

…

…

Huh?

I suddenly felt my insides get a little colder. "Me? Hosting?" Oh this is not good.

"Yes Hiro. As the Dragon Warrior, this is one of your most critical duties. And sunlamps and dancing, those are common traditions." He said. Gotta admit, I was a little hurt. I mean, I grew up with "common". If I were to guess, if anyone didn't know about my mastery in my own style of Kung fu, I'd guess they'd think I was just some country bumpkin. But now I'm expected to host one of the most elegant dinners of the year? This is really not good.

"Uh, Master shifu, maybe there's someone a little more qualified to-" I never got to finish.

"Dragon Warrior!" Oh boy, what now? A pig came through the entrance of the noodle shop at high speed… for a pig that is.

"Bandits! At the bridge!"

Guess I'll have to talk to Shifu about this later. I ran to the bridge where the action was and left Master Shifu and Mr. Ping alone. On the way over several thoughts ran through my head. How was I going to pull this off? What will happen if I mess up? And most importantly… What the hell was Master Shifu thinking?

When I arrived at the bridge my friends, The Furious Five, were already there kicking some serious warthog bandit ass. "Hey guys!" I said jumping in with a flurry of palm strikes to a trio of warthogs, and gaining the attention of a few of their comrades. "You, uh… You guys excited about the Winter Feast?" I asked a little nervously.

Crane swooped in and swept a couple of bandits off their feet, then threw one into the side of a building. "With all the Masters at one table; the feast is going to be intense!"

Viper seemed to be enjoying herself as she smacked around another bandit with her tail. "One perfect feast!" She stated simply.

I lifted my arms and put up my Lunar Sphere. just in time to get jumped by four bandits… at once. Heh, new record. "Well I thought I should let you know that I'll be joining you this year." I said as I warded off the four bandits.

Mantis knocked one bandit on his ass with a surprising amount of strength. "Glad to hear it. It's an honor to be invited." It sometimes amazes me on how we can have these conversations while working to protect the valley.

Hmm. I guess I'll tell them now. "Well, actually I'm not really just invited." I said, delivering a series of palm thrusts to all four bandits with lightning speed, knocking them unconscious. "I'm hosting." I caught the hammer of one bandit and twisted his arm behind his back.

Everyone froze for a second. "What?" They all asked simultaneously with a skeptical look on their faces.

"Wouldn't be my choice." Said the bandit I had in the armlock. I knocked him out on general principle. Wouldn't be my first choice either but what can I do?

"Thoughts?" I asked. I wanted to know their opinion.

Monkey was first. "Well, the feast is very…" He started as he did a roundhouse kick to one of the bandits, who stumbled over to Viper who finished Monkey's sentence.

"Elegant." She said as she slapped the same bandit across his face. The bandit stumbled again over to Mantis who gave his thoughts on the matter.

"It's a very… sophisticated event." He said as he knocked the bandit into the air and over to me.

I caught the bandit and put him in a sleeper hold. "So does everyone think I can't do sophisticated?" I asked as the bandit slowly lost consciousness. Everyone stood there in a brief but uncomfortable silence once all the bandits had been taken care of.

"I… don't think so." Crane was the first one to break the silence. During the short amount of time I've been here I noticed that Crane always hesitates when he lies.

"It's not that we don't think you're not sophisticated Hiro." Tigress stepped forward with an expression that seemed to be skepticism and worry. "It's just, we think you could use a little help with this." Since the whole 'Tai Lung" incident my relationship with Tigress has steadily grown, I consider her my closest friend. She's always willing to help me out when she thinks I need it, What a pal.

"Help huh?" I said as I put the last bandit in the pile with all his buddies. "Yeah, maybe." Normally I'd like to attempt things myself first before asking for help. I mean, it's just a dinner, right.

How hard can it be?

 **A little later.**

Apparently, a lot harder than I thought!

It started when I got back to Shifu at the Jade Palace, there he told me everything that had to be done; from the hand gestures of each hand, to the place settings, to the golden ladle (which seemed to be mostly made of silver by the way). Look, I never shirk away from my responsibilities, and I never shy away from a challenge… but this seems to be too much for one wolf, even if he is a kung fu master.

I sat there in the ruins of what used to be the kitchen with the little bunny chef I had unwittingly shamed due to my incompetence. Today had been one disaster after another.

Let's see…

First I had to find a chef, the first one was named Wo Hop, who was currently trying to stab me with a wooden spoon. Wo Hop not even stood in front of me for ten seconds when he was dragged away after I gave him the "Honshu wave of dismissal". Hey it was an accident, I thought I was waving at Monkey! Then the rest of the chef's walked up and then I noticed something… I had actually apprenticed under half the chef's here!

I didn't want to show any favoritism or hurt any of my old master's feelings so i ended up choosing… nobody.

And believe me, it only got worse from there.

I had decided that I was going to cook myself when I ran into Wo Hop again, unfortunately he wasn't there to help me out, he was there to fight me to restore his honor. Then there was the breaking of the dishes, the ice sculpture, the band's vocalist quitting and being replaced by someone who can't sing… everything turned out to be a disaster.

So I sat in the ruins of the kitchen with Wo Hop trying to figure a way out of this mess.

"what am I going to do?" I asked nobody in particular. "I'm going to let everyone down; the masters, the Five, Shifu."

"And me; I'm still alive." Thank you for adding to my burden of guilt, Wo Hop.

"Why is it so hard to pull off a simple dinner?" I asked no one again. I wasn't asking the bunny because I doubted he'd be able to help me out here.

"Well, it would be hard for any one man." And the doubts went away. He suddenly reminded me that I had offers of help on the table.

"Friend, you're a genius." I said right before I ran out to find my friends.

And from there things got better.

The Five used their Kung Fu skills to help me set the table in record time. Who would've thought that the martial arts would have such practical uses? Then I went into the kitchen and made a deal with Wo Hop. He helps me with the cooking, and he gets his honor restored, I kept quiet on how it would happen though.

 **Winter Festival.**

Perfect.

That's the only way I could describe it.

Wo Hop, the Five and I stood in the great dining hall to admire our handywork. Everything was absolutely perfect, and I couldn't have done it without their help.

Tigress was going over the checklist with me, just to make sure we got everything ready.

"Twenty-nine place settings?" Tigress asked.

"Check." I confirmed.

"Forty chopsticks?"

"Check."

"Ground Jasmine?"

"Chec- wait, _ground_?"

I had suddenly remembered Shifu's instructions, and he specifically said the jasmine had to be flaked. I grabbed the little pot and made for the door. "I'll be right back!" I yelled.

"Don't be too long, the Masters will be arriving soon." Viper called out behind me.

I gave Shifu my word that everything would be perfect, I've never broken a promise before and I'm not about to start now.

I ran down the stairs as fast as I could… maybe a little too fast; I slipped on some ice a few dozen steps from the bottom on the way down. I landed at the bottom along with the pot of jasmine… why didn't it break? I'll worry about it later.

I made my way to the home of someone who always has flaked jasmine around. I knocked, she came out, we made the trade and that was it.

I started to run for the Palace when I noticed something. I looked around at the scene before me, sunlamp lining the streets, children playing in the snow, people laughing and smiling having fun…

This was the Winter Festival I always remembered seeing, but never being a part of, The Winter Festival I always missed out on.

I gazed up at the Jade Palace, glowing with it's own sunlamps in the distance. I sighed to myself as I slowly walked up the stairs the the feast where all the masters would be.

Looks like I'm going to miss out on the festival again.

 **The Feast.**

"Beautiful. Elegant. Perfect." Shifu whispered, sitting next to me. I barely listened, I just sat there, depressed. Here I was, sitting with the most powerful Kung Fu masters in all of China, so shouldn't I be happy? Excited? But I didn't. I just felt… down. "You've made me proud, Hiro."

I still wasn't listening, I was too busy tapping my claw on the table. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed everyone else doing the same thing. "Hiro!" Shifu got my attention. and when I stopped tapping, everyone else did too, which was odd to say the least. Shifu cleared his throat. "Dragon Warrior, would you do us the honor of reciting the opening words to the Creed of the Masters?"

The Creed of the Masters was a saying that all masters were taught when they had received the title of Master. I learned it a day after I beat Tai Lung. It wasn't long, but it had a deep meaning to it. It was something you don't easily forget. I knew the whole thing forwards and backwards, but…

"I can't."

"I had a feeling you might forget, so wrote it on your napkin." I looked down and sure enough he had. Thank you, O ye of little faith.

"That's not what I meant." I whispered. I stood up and took the ridiculously fancy hat off my head. "Excuse me everyone." Like before with the tapping, everyone had stood up and taken off their hats. Still odd, but I wasn't going to say anything about it. I was never good at speeches, or saying anything profound, but here goes.

"You know, I spent my entire life traveling all over this land, learning every trade that I could." All the masters got confused looks on their faces, obviously this wasn't how things went last year. But then again they didn't have me here last year, did they? "Every Winter Festival I would watch all those people enjoy this holiday with the company of their family and friends, but I never had a family, so I couldn't help but be envious of them."

I sighed to myself, remembering all the holidays I spent alone. "A couple of years ago, I made a promise to myself, that I would Spend the holidays like everyone else, even if it would only be once. And now I think now is a good time as any. Besides, fancy isn't really my style." I finished with a large grin. Everyone seemed to be surprised at the choice I made. Can't say I blame them…

They never met a wolf quite like me.

"Master Shifu." I turned to my teacher who had a shocked look on his face. "Would you do me the great honor of taking my place as host of this magnificent feast?" I didn't wait for him to answer. I just bowed to him and walked out of there, and made my way down to the village.

And when I heard that gooses terrible singing I went a little faster.

 **Mr. Pings**

Now this is the Winter Festival I had hoped of being a part of. Ping's noodle shop was lit as brightly as the Jade Palace, people were laughing and having a great time. Mr. Ping and I were cooking noodle soup for everyone, and the smiles never left our faces the entire time. Things got even better when the Furious Five joined the party, and of course they were welcomed with open arms. Shortly after the Five came, all the Masters from the Jade Palace came to join us, much to my surprise.

Wo Hop tried another sneak attack on me, but stopped when I presented him with what would restore his honor; the silver ladle (hey, it's barely made of gold, so I'm calling it the silver ladle).

"Is it everything you hoped for?" A voice next to me asked. I turned my head to see Tigress smiling at the scene before her. I looked around. Everyone was happy, the Masters were getting along with the villagers, Master Rhino was telling a group of children a story of one of his adventures, Mantis was playing peek-a-boo with a little baby bunny, and a pig was laughing so hard that noodles came out of his nose. I guess that was Uncle Yang. I was almost perfect.

"Almost. We're just missing one thing." I said. My eyes went to the entrance where Master Shifu stood with a small smile on his face. He slowly nodded and walked out of sight. I'm guessing he was going back to the Jade Palace.

I walked toward the entrance found that Shifu hadn't gotten far. "You know you can join the fun too?' I asked him. He turned around, with a small smile.

"Oh, I couldn't. These are your people. Your family." Now that really warmed my heart. My family. I had to agree with him there. We all may not be related by blood, but the bond is there nonetheless.

"Oh come on, your family too Shifu." Oh yes, my grumpy old grandpa. "It wouldn't be the holidays without you."

He smiled at me and said. "Keep doing what you do wolf. That way, you will never let us down." And with that he walked with me to the party.

Looks like my first Winter Festival went rather well.

Can't wait for next year.

 **First story of the New Year! I'd like to thank all my followers who helped me get where I am, without y'all I probably would've stopped after my first chapter of** _ **Kung Fu Wolf**_ **. Hope you all enjoyed this little story, if you did 'like' and review.**

 **Hope you all have a Happy New Year!**


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